A place for everything and everything in its place. This makes it easier to clean off surfaces. I'm so hung up on this I tend to put everything away right after I'm done cooking even before we sit down to eat. I get sleepy after meals and the last thing I feel like doing is putting stuff away.

Clean as you go and garbage bowl are my biggies. But I take garbage bowl one further - garbage produce bag!

Line the bowl with the produce bag as you work on your prep. Once you're done, pull the bag and discard. One less bowl to wash! Or even skip the bowl opting just for the bag.

Yep, I wash out my sink with Thymes Limited Fraser Fir dishwashing liquid, then wipe down the counters with the damp sponge. The scent is wonderful -- spicy, herbal, clean.

When I moved into my house in a new-to-me part of the country, a neighbor told me she'd had a terrible problem with fruit flies in her home. A friend told her to just wash out her sink every evening with regular soap -- no need for harsh chemicals, just keep it clean. My neighbor said that practice solved her problem.

So I may be like the boy tapping two sticks together to keep away tigers (Well, you don't see any tigers, do you?), but I've washed out my sink every night since I moved in, I've never had fruit flies and I always wake up to a nice, clean sink and counters.

I really have to force myself to get right on those dirty dishes immediately after supper! When I do slip and let them sit, the mental stress of knowing a dirty kitchen is waiting for me in the morning is just not worth it. And seeing a clean kitchen every time I walk through is just a joy!

I've always been one to leave piles of dirty dishes waiting to be washed in one big sweep, so starting to clean as I go seems to make a huge difference for me. Also, getting a compost bucket was fantastic - just dump everything in there as I cook, and take it outside later. My cutting board isn't cluttered with scraps anymore! Finally, just living with my fiance has been a great thing - he can't stand the clutter, so I have to make more of an effort (meanwhile I can't stand things not wiped down and surfaces clean, whether or not stuff is on them, so he makes an effort to do that!). When I lived alone I gave myself a lot more leeway!

This is funny. I'm also not the dishwasher in the house but I do follow up every time. I made sure everything is stacked on the drying rack. There is always some soap left in the sponge so I use it to wipe down the counter, the stove, and then finally, wipe down the sides of the sink and the sink itself. There is usually some food remains in the sink - little bread crumbs, salad pieces. If I don't wipe it down it will dry and stick the next day.

I clean and wash dishes as I cook. I spend the whole time my food is cooking in the kitchen, and any downtime when I'm not actually cooking is spent washing dishes, putting away spices, etc. Then you don't have to clean up afterward!

I do the same thing - to wash out my sink after I do the dishes. It makes the kitchen feel so clean!

I wash kid dishes as soon as they're used. It's amazing how quickly those little bowls and spoons and sippy cups stack up, and then they're not clean when I need them for the next meal, and then I have a hungry toddler going ballistic in the highchair waiting for food, which is not a recipe for soothing and satisfying dish-washing :)

I also am in the habit of turning on good music and making myself a latte when I clean the kitchen (or, pouring a glass of wine while I clean after dinner). It just makes the whole process more fun.

I do the same thing with scrubbing the sink--it also gives me peace of mind that I won't somehow cross-contaminate. Once or twice a week, after scrubbing out the sink I put about 1/4 cup of baking soda in each drain and splash in a glug of white vinegar, let it foam up a for a few minutes, then rinse it down with hot water. Since we don't have a disposal, it helps keep any teeny food bits from clogging the drains.

The best habit my husband and I have developed is cooking together, as a team. It makes us closer.

The best habit my husband and I have developed is cooking together, as a team. It makes us closer.

My husband is the dishwasher loader but he likes to get to the dishes when he feels like it. I like the sink to be empty at all times. So I keep a plastic bin in the cabinet under the sink and all the dishes go in there until he's ready to load. It works with both his laid-back attitude and my anal-retentiveness. (And I don't have a lot of space, by the way, but the empty sink was that important to me.)

The other small change I committed to was washing my chef's knife immediately after mincing garlic even if I'm going to cut an onion or something else afterward. Too many times in a row the garlic dried to the knife and was just so much more work to clean.

My nice kitchen knives are either on my hand being used, or clean in the knife block.
I do not leave them on the counter or cutting board to have other dishes etc get put on top of them or slide around and knick the blade.
I was also told to always hold a knife like you are using it, secure in your hand--safety first!

So far, the best habit I have developed is starting with an empty dishwasher before every meal. This way, I can drop something in there right after it's used, and I'll I'm left with is a pan to clean after the meal. I managed to serve Christmas dinner last year, and be left with only the large serving platters this way.

I also keep a clean, damp kitchen rag next to my cutting board for wiping down my chef's knife between chopping.

I've been trying to use more natural household cleansers, but I don't want everything to smell like vinegar all the time either. My new thing is to us Bon Ami sprinkled with a few drops of Dr. Bronner's soap. I either add this to a sponge or sprinkle directly on a surface. Lately I've been using the citrus and the lavender soaps, but the rose scented Dr. Bronner's smells good too...if you can find it.

Your story reminds me of when I was a kid and my father dragged me back to the kitchen sink after I finished washing the dishes and I left the sink all gunky... he was NOT pleased! haha it was totally gross and he was totally right. So thanks to him I have become a very diligent dishwasher and ALWAYS wipe out the sink!

As far as tips, I second a lot of the people who have a small garbage/scraps bowl for prep work. Also washing and wiping as you go. Most of the clutter that develops as you cook is food waste, so if you keep the scraps bowl contained, you are left with random tools and utensils and bowls. Rinse them in the sink as soon as you're done using it or stick them in the dishwasher. That 3 second habit really does make all the difference.

I've tried clean as I go, but I typically fail sometime along the way. So, I've adopted clean as I notice. Later on in the night, usually between commercials or chapters in a book, I'll wander into the kitchen to grab a beer or some water, or a secreted piece of chocolate and notice dishes in the sink. On that trip, I soak the dishes in soapy water - no dishwasher - and then finish washing them the next time I get up and wander back. On the next trip, I wipe things down or toss things in the trash. It saves me from staring mindlessly at commercials or getting too obsessed with what I'm reading, and keeps the house clean.

I try to clean any pots and pans or large bowls and cutting boards right away. Anything that takes up too much counter, stovetop, or in-sink space. I don't like leaving dirty dishes sitting in the sink. I also really like to keep the sinks (bathroom included) clean and shiny.

Cook: I like to have everything prepped, chopped and set up before i turn the heat on. This isn't always feasible during the week but its my preferred way of doing things.

Clean: Wash as you go and a place for everything and to everything its place.

I pack lunches as I serve. My daughter and I typically take leftovers for lunch, so I put our lunch containers next to the dishes. (DH prefers to eat lunch out.) It's the exact same amount of work/time as it would be if I waited until later to pack lunches, but somehow getting it done immediately makes me feel ahead of the game.

Really, the only thing I can add to what's already been offered is somewhat tangential -- organization of your kitchen space. I like to go through and reassess what has earned space in my kitchen and make sure that the right things are most accessible. If I make 10x more mini muffins than bundt cakes, I shouldn't need to move bundt cake pans out of the way to reach the mini muffin tins. (And I should consider whether the bundt cake pans have even earned precious cabinet space). This helps with prepping for cooking as well as putting things away afterward.

I have developed the habit of rinsing all my dishes after use, but not actually doing a big load of dishes at night. I'm usually tired after dinner and my kids are getting fussy, and my hubs is home, and I just do not think the dishes are important enough to miss out on after dinner family time. I do my dishes first thing in the morning, unload and load the dishwasher, so the kitchen is clean for the day and I don't have to worry about missing family time. My grandmother taught me that.

Unless it's a single item, the dishes get done every night and the process isn't complete without wiping down the benches with soapy water.

Conserve your energy when cooking. By which I mean less stirring, prodding, flipping, checking, and in the case of prepping ingredients, it's OK if things are not so evenly or perfectly sliced or chopped. Pare down processes to the bare minimum, and avoid multltasking unless absolutely necessary, It has taken me many years in the kitchen to realize that slow and simple is better!